


Fool's Plan

by Nezanie



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/F, Violence but not graphic, black eagles make an appearance as well as the golden deer leader, implied self inflicted scars
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-13
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:54:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24038482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nezanie/pseuds/Nezanie
Summary: The battle for Derdriu, a battle of wits and endurance that would go down in history. Marianne makes a stance accepting her selfishness and greedily fighting for a love that should have been doomed as Hilda stood on the other side of the battlefield. In the midst of war, she chooses to follow her heart, both to save Hilda and trust the radiant Edelgard.
Relationships: Marianne von Edmund/Hilda Valentine Goneril
Kudos: 24





	Fool's Plan

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: inspired by my actual in game round where Marianne fought off Hilda, sparing her even though she was getting hit (and healed by that convenient healing plate in the square). Casper stayed back with her so you all are gonna enjoy reading a rare good blue man helping out a good blue woman. Blue solidarity ftw.

Derdriu. It was known as the city of festivities had always been filled with colours, street vendors with stalls so full at the crack of dawn it was hard to imagine they would be out of stock by noon. Marianne never really was the participating type but she had seen the painting depicting the most famous events, her adoptive father did try to take her once. She’d been scared of the crowd.

It still sent a chill down Marianne’s spine seeing it now a typical ghost town except it was filled with soldiers, the cries of the felled replacing the giddy sounds of children running around to see the games and talents displayed on the streets. The only fire they would see was not from the fire breathers that would awe the crowds this time, she thought somberly.

The gates came in sight far too quickly for her thumping heart following their march to the Alliance stronghold, Marianne glanced around that she could see of the city wondering if she could spy that radiant colour of pink on the front lines. Of course she was. It was why she was part of this battle’s strike force in the first place. And with all the lazy talk and frivolities Hilda would never leave Claude on his lonesome.

“Marianne,”

A hand clapped on her shoulder heavily, her eyes darted to her side meeting stern, empathic lilac. She took a step back, Edelgard always led her Black Eagles together with the professor, being addressed by an emperor, even if she was her friend in arms was...more unusual. 

“Are you sure you’ll be alright?” she said, voice heavy with concern. She had entrusted the quiet, once reclusive woman with having it her way. Marianne had come a long way in these five years, however, she had not been quite as vocal as the plea she’d presented to the emperor in their last meeting. Both the selected Black Eagle Strike Force Unit and Claude’s most Elite were staring each other down, ready to join in the chaos of the battle around the city.

Marianne took a ragged breath, not deep enough to feel anything but a burn in her throat, she gripped at the hilt of her sword and nodded stiffly. It was as if time held still for this very moment, they were in the eye of the storm, a calm that would soon be quelled by the first one to make a move. She willed her voice not to crack, “I will take care of Claude’s second in command, you have my word, in return...please listen to what he was to say!”

Edelgard smiled similarly tense, watching as her army took their position as planned. In fact it was going a little too smoothly. The fight would soon be starting, her face was so grim the wrinkles made her look too young to be leading such a bloody revolution of ways. Marianne often felt they were all awfully young at times like these and yet she gave Marianne a firm pat on the back. 

_ ‘I feel wicked making her give me courage when I’m the one being selfish,’ _ she thought, forcing a smile.

Edelgard seemed to ignore her stiffness and commented trying to keep things realistic, “Claude is unpredictable, he might not give us a chance to see eye to eye,”

“You’ll keep your promise if he surrenders,” Marianne repeated their agreement as they were walking with their leader to Byleth’s side. Saying it out loud made it feel like it was a possible outcome even if it seemed like a farfetched dream within a dream scenario.The professor who used to seem so cool in their academy days greeted them with a nod, now that Marianne had seen her fair share of fights, she could see the minuscule movements of the woman’s muscles in tension. 

“I don’t see him not having a scheme or two,” Byleth interrupted, she placed a hand on their Emperor’s shoulder smiling to Marianne, “But our emperor gave her word didn’t she? You’re free to do as you please as long as you keep Hilda away from Claude, and we’ll see what we can do from our end,”

“The goal is to unite Fodlan, not masacre indiscriminately, if he steps down and is no longer in my way, that’s all fine by me, needless to say if he stubbornly refuses it’s another matter,” Edelgard didn’t finish. The implication was clear enough.

Marianne bit her lip and gave a curt bow, “I can live with that.” She lied rather easily these days, as simply as cutting butter with a knife, her tongue no longer felt heavy with the anxiousness of a fib. Their deaths would haunt her till the end of her life. As they did their emperor, she could see it even if Edelgard’s mask was thick and had no cracks, Marianne knew it. Once she had admired the way Edelgard was so strong and radiant, five years was all it took to see the hurt, scared and hopeful child behind her actions.

‘That a child could take upon her shoulders the burden of changing the world shows how much adults have done the future generations wrong,’ Marianne couldn’t remember who had said that to her. It just rang through as she was dismissed.

She took her position right behind their leader pair, Casper squatted to her left ever so energetic or nervous with Lindhart judging him with a tired, disgusted look. Bernadette and Dorothea were behind them, the songstress holding the archers hand. Marianne sent her an encouraging, uneasy smile as they all were mingling with their own troops, the soldiers glaring heavily and ready to defend their captains. The strike force would take the less guarded insides of the city while the rest of the army was keeping the alliance’s full force at bay. It meant that the longer they took, the more of both sides would die, they had to act as fast as possible. 

Marianne barely heard anything as she watched Aymr rise, ready to signal the start of their invasion. It was as if she had gone deaf with a ringing that made her wince as they ran straight into the heart of the city.

The cries of allies and enemies were barely audible with the painful screech like sound. Nonetheless, she had a job to perform. Marianne kept a little back as instructed, the flow of the fight kept her sandwiched between the might of the emperor and their ex-professor, she was not to over exert herself. It still made the hair on the nape of her neck rise, no matter how many scuffles they were sent off to. The feeling of shivering skin felled by her own sword, the fear in her prey’s eyes, the feeling of her own crest making her blood boil - her true nature hated nature manifest - she was made for this and she no longer resisted her crest’s urges. She had learned she needed the beast's power.

They’d made it beyond the gates too easily for Marianne’s liking. Everyone seemed tense thinking the very same thing. The enemies had been far too few for the numbers they knew the Alliance had to have in the capital. Something was unsettling.

‘This, this seems off and not in a good way,’ they all thought.

“Oh no,” Lindhart murmured from somewhere near, tone rather annoyed more than panicked as it should have been. She wasn’t quite sure as her sword clashed with another soldier who fell with an unsettling grin on his face. He had underestimated her, she still looked like her skinny teenage self however she was not just a mage as her clothing would paint her but a trained knight. With a push she overwhelmed him, knocking his weapon to the side and sliced through him as if he was made of paper. And yet he died with a smile.

She sent a silent prayer to the goddess for his soul and finally saw what it all had meant. The boats anchored to the harbor were filled with Almyrian wyvern riders, along with the impressive looking army of lizards and men, the  _ Nader _ , flew to the front leading the troupes. Gasps of shock and dismay rang around her own troupe seeing how they were now trapped within the walls of the city, easy targets to finish off.

“Typical Claude,” Edelgard groaned, if she was dismayed she didn’t let it show.

“We’ll just have to improvise,” Dorothea sighed, flitting across the battlefield to her side; to heal, invigorate or torch down she was an incredible force to be reckoned with. She had always seemed out of place as emphatic as she was however in the dancer garb she stood out like a sore thumb. And she was visibly pale with all the skin Dorothea was showing in that outfit, she couldn’t hide that particular reaction. Marianne had always been impressed by her resilience of character. Claude had probably underestimated the tenacity of Edelgard’s special forces. Whereas normally people would lose hope, the Black Eagles fought back.

And without realising, slowly their dark aquilan wings steadily made their way to the square as if they were truly in flight. And a short way from this central position was a path to the gazebo where Claude commanded his forces. 

_ ‘Yes, and she should be…’ _

Right before Marianne could finish the sight of the lady in her thoughts cut them clean out of her mind, Marianne saw in the hazy heat of it all and her breath was still caught in her throat. Her axe - the family heirloom no doubt - pulsing menacingly on a tanned, sculpted shoulder, flanked by a couple of other mean looking axe wielding units; skilled warriors of House Goneril by the looks of them. 

“Don’t choke, you can do it,” Dorothea’s dancer spell let her make the last stretch invigorating like a good pat on the back. If only they were still at school, that’s all it would be.

Marianne sent her an amused look as she winked at her. She’d been a friend and confidante ever since she transferred classes five long years ago. “I don’t plan to,” she replied solemnly, giving the open square one quick look around and raising her sword signaling her own skilled companions to charge in.

Bernadetta was stuttering orders loudly behind her, the archers in her care doing their best against the sudden influx of wyvern riders coming towards them and they all could only hope that they were the flames to quell a back of particularly toothy and armed moths. The urgency of the situation merely escalated, they couldn’t hold them forever. 

Marianne had glimpsed Ferdinand and Jeritza take off with their men away from the main force as soon as they got through the city gates. Jeritza she had not spoken to often, he was a shrewd man Edelgard trusted with a delicate past concerning Mercedes. It still gave her a little spark of courage to see him take off determined in his death knight gear, he was a force to be reckoned with.

In the same split second, she ran along with Casper’s team to meet the woman that held her heart and quite possibly her fate on this morose day. It was starting to become even more difficult to keep positive, and it never had been her forte so anyone would not blame her for feeling any of the Eagle strike force plan let alone her own personal wish would go unfulfilled with the pressing stench of death and ash all around. From the corner of her eye she saw the mighty beast Jeritza rode gallop across with Ferdinand’s own stallion right behind, the cavalry of horses stampeding through the open space to hopefully cut off the enemy reinforcements from the borders of the city. 

Petra, a skilled assassin stealthily ran in with her concealed unit from the sidestreet a few moments later catching the eye of one large group of menacing bulky warriors who took the taunt and launched themselves in her direction. Marianne hoped she’d be alright, they all looked big enough to bite off any of the Adrestrian soldiers head on their lonesome. 

Casper swung his whole body in front of Marianne taking her defense at heart as a bloodied axe came down on the mage. 

“Go on get going, almost there,” he cackled awkwardly, whether he was happy for a challenge or trying to defuse his own tension. Marianne mustn’t have had a great look on her, braid coming off, rust coloured splotches all over her dress she hoped wasn’t her own or pertaining to her friends from either side. A plainly idealistic illusion of a dream at this point. Marianne heard herself cough in the fumes of magical residue in her attempt to laugh.

She swerved behind her companion and made her way to the center of the square coming to a stop in front of Hilda Valentine Goneril. The love of her teenage life - and in general really, she couldn’t go about forgetting her school sweetheart, her pen pal and confidante. That love who was the second in command of the alliance leader Claude Reigan and a force of nature on the battlefield with a relic to intensify her might in one small, buff pinkish package grinning at her. Her flimsy sword felt like a useless twig right now compared to all of Hilda’s might staring up at her. 

_ ‘Maybe I should have come in as a knight this time,I had that certification,’  _ she thought a little dumbly in her disappointment. She felt as impressive as a bug going up against a boot.

“I’m so sorry..Hilda...I...,” she gasped painfully through heavy breaths, she hadn’t noticed how tired she was until she had to come to a stop. It was difficult to catch your breath when your heart was halfway up your oesophagus.

Hilda’s smile was so sad it broke her heart, “It’s ok, Marianne. These things happen in war,”

Their correspondence had stopped just at the start, they had already wordlessly taken sides. The knowledge of what was to come felt far off at the time and they might have looked away from reality. Marianne had many unsent letters asking Hilda impossible requests; from staying safe at home in her heavily guarded estate to the even more ludicrous plea to join her at Garreg Mach. 

_ ‘If I had sent you those letters…,’  _ Hilda’s thoughts echoed Marianne’s own.

_ ‘You’re just too kind, Hilda _ ,  _ unlike me, I can’t think of others like you do, _ ’ Marianne shook her head, unable to find the right words. She was happy to see the girl utilising her skills to the fullest, second in command! That was an achievement to be praised but she could hear the young girl from her memories calling it a fluke, trying to push her job on someone else. Her older brother was the genius, she was the cute, little dolt of a young sister. Silly, Miss Hilda Valentine Goneril, the doll to be protected, had become a force to be reckoned with in adulthood.

Their parties clashed as if to shield their leaders for their destined encounter, in the middle of the furious fight, Marianne pushed against Freikugel, biting into her cheek and trying to ignore how it made her skin crawl with every hungry pulse. It always felt as if the things could speak, and had emotions, as alive as the mighty warriors wielding them. Aymr in particular could make her head spin and ache if she listened too closely. 

Somehow she managed to pivot in such a way that she could dislodge herself from the confrontation. Hilda nearly tripped, as she regained her footage, Marianne leapt a few steps away trying to gain all the time she could.

She had no idea how Hilda did it but in a moment the tip of the axe that had been nearly touching the ground behind the lady axe wielder was now coming down onto Marianne at a breathtaking speed. “Blizzard!” she shouted, aiming right at the toothy blade with full force. The spell sent the rattling axe backwards, half frozen and wiggling feebly as if alienated by the fact that it didn’t sink itself into its target.

“Clever little sneak but…” Hilda huffed, raising the relic with one hand and crashing it into the floor. The ice broke effortlessly. “You’re holding back on me,”

Marianne puffed out to get a few strands of hair out of her eyes, smiling in exasperation at the remark, her eyes darting to the emperor and the professor moving along the edge of town towards the gazebo. “Perish the thought,”

Hilda blinked in surprise, snorting at her snide, “Well, wow, Marianne, you’ve really grown stronger haven’t you?” 

She lunged quickly and Marianne yelped at the fresh cut on her waist. Thankfully, it wasn’t too deep. Hilda was obviously getting used to how slippery the mage was and a little too fast. Being schoolmates came at a disadvantage for both ways. Marianne kept her on her toes with well aimed spells to her feet forcing the annoyed Hilda to back off.

“You’ve finally stopped hiding behind your brother’s shadow,” she enticed, pressing a hand to the wound on her wait and muttering a quick healing spell to ease the bleeding. It made her feel rather guilty resorting to such words, she just had to keep Hilda’s focus on her no matter what. It was a life or death matter. She had lost too many loved ones in her life, and Hilda who had shown her kindness, gently prodded her former gloomy self out of her self loathing habits, and patiently stood in her defense as other students spread malicious rumors on her account. Marianne couldn’t bear to lose her.

Hilda flinched at the remark and took an offensive stance. Marianne readied her sword ready to anticipate. Hilda had been her first love, one she had not forgotten even in five years of separation. Those letters came back to mind which they’d sent to one another and were still locked in her desk. Hilda had initiated them even after Marianne had taken off with the black eagles to join Edelgard’s cause. 

_ ‘Crap, she’s really fast,’  _ Marianne thought, raising her sword in the nick of time against an uppercut. She didn’t expect the woman to close in and shove the pole of the axe into her abdomen. 

Gritting her teeth against the force of the blow and the sting from her other injuries she was sent to the ground and rolled in the dirt before quickly scrambling back onto her feet. Her sword had clattered to the floor and now stood limp between the two of them.

“Rule number one, never let go of your weapon,” Hilda said, advancing slowly, she couldn’t meet Marianne in the eye. Marianne stood her ground, tasting the blood on her tongue from her own set of teeth sinking into her cheek. This was fine by her, if Hilda thought she had the fight in the bag, she’d lower her guard.

Making a dive for the sword Marianne quickly backtracked as the tip of the axe nearly cleaved her shoulder clean off. The tip nicked her but she had ample time to roll away, she needed to stay close. Controlling high level spells was difficult enough and making it less lethal made even the weakest spells draining to perform.

“Thoron,” she hissed in concentration, temples pulsing with the strain of it, ignoring the pain in her arm as the spell hit Hilda on her shoulder blade.

She leaned heavily on the axe as Marianne retrieved her weapon and took an opportunity to survey the battle. Nader was busy fending off Bernadetta who had Lindhart’s full support and yet they still seemed to be slowly getting overwhelmed.

On the other hand, Edelgard had to retreat after cleaving the way for Byleth sustaining injuries that would normally kill a man of thrice her size. Jeritza and Ferdinand had succeeded in closing off the city and no reinforcements would come for the alliance, they could still win. They circled Edelgard taking her to safety and provided Byleth enough support to cross the bridge. It was finally the moment of truth!

“You really are stalling!” Hilda scowled at her, crest of goneril activating mid swipe.

“Huh?” Marianne quickly spun around to meet the full force of Hilda’s attack. The beast’s crest suddenly activated, flaring menacingly against Goneril’s own prowess. The impact sent the two women spiralling to the ground. Marianne’s sword was cleaved clean in two as its owner stared dumbfounded at the sight, Hilda’s relic swiveled away from her hand landing behind her.

She could barely keep on her feet, crumpling forward and holding onto her knees. The dizziness of the force did not allow her to make a second move. Her opponent got to her feet and dislodged her weapon from the ground.

“Look at you, Marianne, you’re beaten, blue and purple,” Hilda cried at her, clutching at her chest, “I barely have a scratch on me, what are you thin-”

_ “Shit,”  _ she heaved, pushing herself upright and following Hilda’s line of sight, watching the horror etched into her paling visage slowly as her eyes landed on the battle between Claude and Byleth, their former professor had reached the man, sword of the creator ready to win another fight and drink the blood of whoever dared stand against their wielder.

Hilda ran off immediately to her lord, Marianne in hot pursuit, surprisingly considering her whole body felt numb. It was far more excruciating heating Hilda screaming back at her, “He was your friend too!”

_ ‘I know, that’s why I made this plan, I know Claude would understand her cause!’  _ she grimaced, grunting with the exertion, she couldn’t speak her mind with the fatigue. It took all of her willpower and remaining physical strength to force her legs not to crumple.

“Blizzard!” she wheezed sending the spiral of frigid magic at her targets feet and halting her run before she could even get to the peer. Hilda jumped back glaring at Marianne until she saw her wobble. Instinct took over and she hurriedly pushed an arm to the mage’s chest to support.

Hilda pulled her into a strong embrace, holding her so fiercely the taller girl felt her eyes would pop. They didn’t have the time to remember they were supposed to be fighting to the death when a miracle occured.

“ALL TROOPS SURRENDER!” Claude’s voice rebounded along the walls of the city, it could be heard cutting through the tension that filled the air, unbreathable with the stink of blood, sweat and magic. Marianne wasn’t sure what was going on let alone what happened next, she heard Hilda’s voice desperately calling her name as her vision blurred and the vague notion of falling asleep made her wonder why her classmate would be so worried.

…

“You! Bloody! Reckless! Foolish! Idiot!” Hilda’s words were punctuated by the action of throwing a pillow back and forth on to the defenseless, supposedly resting Marianne. It would take her awhile if Hilda kept chiding her so physically.

“You had the same idea!” Marianne quipped weakly. Her hands raised meekly against the soft bombardment.

Hilda laughed mockingly, punching the pillow rather brutally. Marianne winced at the action. “I was planning to maim you and drag you away, not heroically offer some alternate peaceful resolution where I'd almost die!”

She had barely woken up when - disoriented and starving - Hilda catapulted into her lap, hugging her tightly and mumbling something incomprehensible between gasps of air that sounded like sobs. Her injuries weren’t too serious, over exhaustion especially from forcing one spell too many and anemia from blood loss since Hilda had been quite serious in trying to knock her out.

She’d been given the basic gist of what happened. Claude had made a big, charismatic speech about his retirement and plans to travel the world - a dream he had always kept close to heart - to his leaders, he had made a clever deal with Edelgard and the Alliance found their situation changing...for the better. The Alliance had been neatly assimilated into the empire’s forces without no more than a few squabbles. It was amazing how much respect Claude had garnered from his followers.

“If Claude had known of her plans from the beginning, a world without crests, huh?” Hilda scoffed, throwing the pillow into Marianne’s unguarded face the moment she let her arms fall to her lap. She gave her the smugest expression seeing Marianne rub her nose with a pout. “He’d have simpatised,”

“I think...when you lived a life in fear of what people can do, betrayed again and again,” Marianne rubbed a hand on her wrist, thinking of darker times, and scars that would never fade that marred the skin and the hearts of many in the Black Eagle strike force that were just like her, “It’s difficult to know who you can trust,”

“Oh, Mari,” Hilda whispered covering her hand, “I’m not going anywhere, but we will have to talk, lots and lots,”

“I know, I am sorry, Hilda,” she replied quietly, turning her hand to hold onto the one Hilda offered to her, entwining their fingers slowly and securely. There was still a big secret between them, she knew Hilda probably had an inkling having seen her mysterious crest in action. However, she couldn’t fess up yet, although she had a feeling she’d soon have to face her nightmares, both past and present. It wasn’t quite the time to do so, after everything they’d gone through and needed to sort out, she couldn’t quite throw another bomb in the field.

Hilda pulled her gently, a hand on her neck, placing a kiss on her forehead before throwing her arms around, “Hush, silly, you know I’ll wait for you, when you’re ready, I’ll listen to what’s eating you alright?”

“Alright, I…” she sighed as Hilda bonked their foreheads together.

Hilda giggling bouncing in reaction to how flustered Marianne always was when she was honest about her feelings towards her or when they were being cuddly. She knew what was coming so she closed off the gap between them catching the girl off guard and trying to convey all the joy and love she was feeling through the kiss. Marianne’s lips quivered against her own.

“I know you love me lllllllots,” she teased when they parted, having witnessed the groggy, half sedated Marianne wake up so happy to see her alive and well that she reached towards Hilda nearly crying about how much she meant to her. Thankfully, only Manuela had seen her in such a childish state and nobody else besides the target of her affection. The healer had been taken by surprise considering how proper Marianne was nowadays having lost most of her clumsy streak.

Marianne’s palm hid half her face, cheeks so pink they looked like ripe peaches. “I wish you wouldn’t remind me about that, I wanted to confess in a more... _ romantic _ manner,”

“I thought it was plenty sweet,” she chuckled nuzzling into her neck and watching her beloved sigh. “It’s nice to see you’re still a little fretty sometimes,”

“I really do adore you Hilda,” she said so lovingly, moving her hand to caress Hilda’s hair. “I love you so much I’m scared,”

Hilda's eyes widened, her cheeks felt so hot she probably was as pink as her clothes now. Hiding into Marianne’s neck she stifled a squeal. ‘ _ How can she be so shy one minute and then spouting such suave, cheesy lines like these the next? She’s too much,’ _

“Hilda?”

“Ahhhhh! I’m so tired, barely slept,” she yawned, gesturing to Marianne to scooch over and throwing herself in the bed as she did, “We both need our beauty sleep, come on.” She patted the area by her arm firmly, “We’ll talk more when we’re not half dead, okay?”

Marianne blinked, smiling tenderly down at the stretching, love of her life happily worming her way into the blankets. She leaned onto her arm, her hair framing her face in a wavy mess that was rather cute, enough to make Hilda smile up giddily at the sight. The sultry way she looked down at Hilda was rather exciting. Marianne gave her a quick peck nearly missing her lips before settling into her side with her back to the blinking, stunned woman. 

Hilda peeked at her -grinning so widely she could feel her cheeks strain- seeing how red Marianne’s ear was, she decided to let her off, she’d come to enjoy a bolder girlfriend as they grew closer she was pretty sure. Placing herself to spoon the taller woman, she’s squeezed into Marianne with her arms and legs giggling along before planting a kiss on her neck and settling down, throwing the blanket on top of them.

It didn’t take five minutes for Marianne to snooze off into dreamland, Hilda lay content watching her, the curve of her breast rising and falling with each breath. The dark circles she remembered so vividly were long gone and rest seemed to come more easily then in their schooldays. Soon enough, when she was certain Marianne was resting easily, she felt her eyelids grow heavy with fatigue. Hilda let her head rest on the pillow and her light snoring could soon be heard.

  
Marianne opened an eye, carefully turning around to peek at Hilda, mesmerized by the woman even when completely conked out and unflatteringly smushed into her back. Somehow she managed to roll over to face her without waking the slumbering warrior. She cupped her face, running her thumb around the edge carefully and smiled in relief that it had not all been a mere dream. Hilda was alive and well, and they had been reunited. No matter how many fights remained they’d stay together! A tear slid onto the pillow as she pressed her lips together so she wouldn’t make a sound. With a small kiss on the lips of her beloved, Marianne contentedly wiggling into the warmth of her chest until sleep reclaimed her once more.


End file.
